


Tom Holland - Out of nowhere (English Version)

by Beginner31



Category: tom holland - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 20,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28956954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beginner31/pseuds/Beginner31
Summary: A completely normal boy on a completely normal journey.You would think so, but what happens when you meet someone you more than just like right away through unfortunate events? And how do you act when certain circumstances complicate things even more and life suddenly takes a completely different path than you had ever dared to dream?A fictional gay love story with Tom Holland...
Relationships: Tom Holland/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 8





	1. Just a normal flight?

I am actually like you. I am totaly average, have normal friends, go to school normally and live a normal life. But that should change very soon after my 18th birthday...  
So first of all a short introduction to me. I'm Carsten, I turned 18 a few months ago and I'm still very emotionally confused by the last few years. I'm not the prettiest, because I have a few kilos too much. But that's okay, because I have the best family and friends imaginable.And these friends gave me a trip to London for my 18th birthday.  
So together with these 6 friends (Julia, Giuliana, Ursula, Christos, Jasmin and Lene), I made my way to the airport on a quiet Monday evening to catch the evening flight to London. What I didn't know at the time was that although I would be arriving in London, the journey would definitely be different from what I had planned. When we arrived at the airport, we said goodbye to our parents and went to the check-in counter. We handed in our suitcases without any problems, passed the security check, boarded the plane, took off safely and landed again. Just a normal flight. Now we were taxiing through Heathrow Airport, which could sometimes take forever.  
Most of the people on board were still asleep or typing holes in their mobile phones. So were my friends. I, on the other hand, was simply enjoying the sea of lights at the airport and dreaming of finally having a romantic date that wasn't a complete flop.  
Oh, what you need to know is that I had realised some time ago that I was more interested in boys than girls, which only these 6 friends who had given me this trip knew. That was also the reason for the rather unsuccessful dates, of which I had already had a few.After what felt like an eternity on the sea of lights of the airport, the plane finally docked at the terminal and the plane began to empty. A little tip on the side: always wait until everyone has disembarked from the plane and then disembark yourself! This is much more relaxed than jumping straight on.  
After all the other guests had disembarked, we also made our way and got off.  
We had just got off the plane and were strolling through the relatively empty terminal of London Airport, heading towards the baggage carousel, when suddenly someone called out directly behind me: "Hey Mrs!". I turned around in astonishment, although I was obviously not a 'Mrs', and only saw a man in the corner of my eye who looked quite familiar before he bumped into me, causing me to slip, lose my balance and topple backwards on the slippery floor, which had also just been freshly mopped and had these warning signs everywhere.  
The next thing I felt was the hard stone floor against the back of my head and then nothing.


	2. An unexpected visit

The next thing I remember is a soft pad and the voices of my friends. From one side I heard Julia shouting quite loudly: "Guys, I think he's waking up!  
There was a rumbling all around me and I heard footsteps all coming towards me.   
When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw all six of them standing in a circle around me and staring at me.   
Slowly my vision cleared and I began to smile slightly, which made everyone else grin. "That's the grin we were all hoping and waiting for!" Ursula said and a small tear ran down her face.   
I just smiled for now, as I was still too tired and couldn't say anything. After a few minutes I cleared my throat briefly and then asked quietly, "Where are we? And what happened?" The 6 just stood there and continued to stare at me.   
After a short silence Christos took the floor: "We are in the hospital! But what happened, someone else better tell you!" I looked at him a little overwhelmed, hoping there was more to come, but there wasn't. "Do you think you're fit enough for this?" Ursula asked quietly.   
I nodded and looked at her curiously. But she looked round and signalled to the others. "Okay. Then we'll bring in someone now who's been sitting here since last night and wants to talk to you." She finally said.   
Without another word, everyone went to the door and left the room. As I was starting to wake up a bit, I straightened up a bit and moved the bed up a bit so I could sit.   
But by then there was a knock and the door was slowly opened and someone peeked cautiously through the crack.   
"May I come in?" Asked a voice I knew from somewhere. I just nodded, as I couldn't speak aloud yet.   
As the person entered, I wondered, as not only the voice but also the person himself looked extremely familiar. I looked intently, wondering where I might know this well-dressed, attractive young man from.   
"Are you all right?" He asked me quietly and then sat down on the chair next to my bed. I nodded and turned to face him. "I have to apologise to you. About yesterday!" I looked at him and continued to listen. "It's because of me you're lying here! I was in a total hurry yesterday I wasn't paying attention and then I accidentally bumped into you so you ended up here."   
I just nodded and was a bit speechless. "And I really wanted to wait here to see if you were okay because I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if something worse had happened to you. That's why it would make me happy if you said something too!?" He said and put on a totally cute smile.   
"Yes, I can speak. I'm just a little tired!" I replied softly and smiled back. This turned his cute smile into a happy one. "That's a relief, I would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to you." He said, truly relieved. I looked at him and nodded again.   
Then I took a deep breath and asked the question that had been burning under my nails all along: "You look so familiar. Have we met before or something?" For a short time he said nothing and then started laughing. I blushed in amazement. "You didn't recognise me?" He asked a little ironically. "I'm not used to that anymore. Well, maybe you're just a little confused, I'll forgive you for that. But does Spider-Man: Homecoming or Far From Home mean anything to you?" I just nodded in wonder and kept looking at him.   
Then he stood up, grinned broadly and said, "I'm the actor! I'm Tom! Tom Holland!"  
Immediately it dawned on me. It hadn't been that long ago that I had watched through all the Marvel movies with my friends. And Spider-Man: Far From Home had been the last of them all and I hadn't recognised him. I didn't recognise Tom Holland!


	3. Just a conversation?

As it seemed I was beyond embarrassment, I blushed as red as a tomato on the spot. Tom just looked at me calmly and then sat down next to me again and took my hand.   
Then he began to speak calmly: "Don't be embarrassed. My Spider-Man movie is still brand new after all. I'm not that famous yet!" He said that, of course, just to put me at ease a little. "I really don't blame you either. It can happen to anyone. Besides, sometimes it's quite nice not to be recognised right away!"   
I looked at him and said softly, "But it's still embarrassing. And that I asked such a stupid question then, too." I grabbed my forehead to show how embarrassed I was.   
"Oh well; it's all good. I'd actually like to stay a little longer too, but I have another appointment that's important and it's been pushed back because of me, because I really wanted to stay until you woke up. But when you're really fit again, then we'll go for a coffee, as a small gesture of reparation. Here's my number!"He said and pressed a piece of paper into my hand and gave me a kiss on it. Then he left the room and left me alone.   
I just lay there, still slightly red, thinking about it and could hardly believe what had just happened.   
Suddenly the door was pulled open and my friends rushed in laughing. They came to the bedside and sat back down with me. "Well?" Giuliana asked curiously. "What?" I asked back dismissively. "Well were you surprised who it was?" I nodded and said nothing, but my face was apparently worth a thousand words.   
"Something's not right. What's wrong?" Jasmin asked. She always plays the detective and immediately notices when something was up. "No it's all okay! I was just really surprised and honestly. I didn't recognise him. Well I recognised him but I didn't know exactly who he was." I said, blushing again.   
My friends looked at me in disbelief. "Did you at least have a conversation?" Lene asked. I just nodded, to which Jasmin immediately blurted out, "He impressed you, didn't he?" I looked at her aghast. "No! What makes you think that now?" I asked, trying to dismiss it to avoid awkward conversation, but everyone else and myself of course knew I was just faking it. "Never mind I'll never see him again anyway!" I said then, standing up and looking at the others without telling them that I had his number.  
"I'm going to the doctor now, to be checked over again. Do you want to pack my things? I'm sure I'll be discharged in a minute!" I said and went on my way. The others just nodded silently and started packing everything up.   
When I got the OK from the doctor to be discharged. I hurried back to the others, we took my stuff and brought them to the hotel so we could at least enjoy the rest of our holiday.   
We spent the rest of the day looking around London, so the subject of Tom Holland receded into the background a bit, which suited me fine. But in the evening, in the spa area of the hotel, the subject came up again. "You have to say, Carsten. Tom Holland is cute, isn't he?" Julia said suddenly and completely incoherently. "Um, it goes like this. But do we have to talk about it now?" I said and tried to end the topic as quickly as possible. "Oh dear. He seems to have really done it to you!" Said Jasmin and winked cheekily at me. "NO HE HASN'T!" I snapped at her. "It was just a conversation! Okay? I asked and looked at the others.   
They all nodded and indeed the subject of Tom Holland was settled for the evening, even though I knew I had long since given myself away. So the next morning, while everyone was still asleep, I decided to write to Tom. But when I reached into my backpack to take out the note with his number, a shiver ran down my spine. I had lost the note with his number....


	4. Unexpected often comes!

I was devastated, of course, because something like this had to happen to me. As if I didn't have enough things going wrong in my life and now I had screwed up one of the few things that had gone really well.   
While I was thinking about it, a few tears slowly came to my eyes. I hadn't noticed that Giuliana had woken up in the meantime and was watching me all the time until she suddenly came into my bed and hugged me. "Hey!" she said quietly. "There will be other handsome boys and definitely some who are not so famous and have much more time for you!" She tried to reassure me.   
"You don't understand!" I replied sadly, knowing I couldn't avoid telling her the truth. "What?" She asked, puzzled. "Everything. Because there's something I haven't told you!" She looked at me curiously. "After I had a little chat with Tom, he gave me his number and said we had to go for a coffee. As a little gesture of amends!" Giuliana stared at me in disbelief and then said carefully, "But that's great! What's the problem with that?"  
"I lost the note where his number was on it! That's the problem!" I said and began to sob quietly. Giuliana kept trying to comfort me but with little success. But then I suddenly got a strange feeling in my stomach. "I have to go!" I said, quickly putting on some clothes and disappearing from the room, leaving a very surprised Giuliana behind.   
I, on the other hand, ran to the nearest underground station. Barely jumped on the next train, rode it a few stops, sprinted back out of the train and the station and up into the hospital to the room where I had been lying and yanked open the door.   
It was empty.   
I immediately started looking for the note, when suddenly a voice behind me said, "If you're here for Tom Holland, you're two minutes late. He was just here to check on the boy who was lying here last night!"   
I turned around stunned and looked into the face of a nurse who just shrugged."You're not serious I said aloud. How did he get here? By car?" She just nodded, probably wondering what was wrong with me.   
I jumped off and ran down the stairs towards the car park. But once inside the car park, I saw no one. No other person but me, no car that appeared to be moving and therefore no Tom Holland.   
Sadly, I leaned against a wall, let myself sink to the floor and began to cry quietly, because I just didn't want to understand how this was all happening.  
After a while of just crouching there against the wall with my face buried, someone suddenly settled quietly next to me on the wall and put his hand on my shoulder.   
"You don't even have to try!" I said defiantly and remained seated with my face buried. "Oh why not?" Asked a voice I hadn't expected. "I was actually just going to ask if we wanted to go out for dinner tonight instead of coffee?" I looked up and my jaw dropped.   
With the sweetest teddy bear look I had ever seen in my life and beautiful brown eyes, looking at me was none other than Tom Holland.


	5. No coffee after all?

I think at that moment it really happened to me. I couldn't stop staring into his beautiful eyes, and we sat there for a long time looking at each other.  
But after a while I noticed that he was getting a little uncomfortable. "Oh I'm sorry." I stammered. I slowly let go of him and cleared my throat. Slowly I looked up at him again and started to blush like a tomato. Tom couldn't help it and started laughing sheepishly, which made me blush even more. I couldn't help it either and had to giggle slightly.  
Then he stood up and helped me up. "I didn't think our next encounter would be like this." Laughed he, eyeing me lightly. "But as they say? Normal is Boring?" I looked at him and just nodded, having no idea what to say. "Oh God. Cat got your tongue again?" He joked laughing.  
"No it didn't." I said sheepishly and smiled. "Well, I'm glad of that. So what's the deal? Tonight, 8pm at Green Park?" He asked, smiling again with that absolutely cute teddy bear look on his face, how could anyone have such a cute look on their face without having to do much about it? "You were serious?" I blurted out, rather excitedly, looking at him in surprise. "Yeah right. Did you think I was joking or what?" He asked mischievously. "I um no. That sounds great. I'm excited." I smiled almost a little amorously and hoped he wouldn't notice.  
"Well but you'd better dress up a bit. Okay? I'll see you tonight then." He said, took my hand, kissed it, got into his car and drove out of the underground car park and away.  
I glared after him, and then slowly walked outside and towards the tube station. Dress up a bit? Great! I wonder what that means to someone like Tom Holland. Well, I guess I could forget about my choice of clothes from the suitcase. I looked at my hand and said to myself, "I'll never wash you again!" And then went back to the hotel. The whole way I could think of nothing but his brown teddy bear eyes.  
It was still early enough for breakfast, which was exactly where I met my friends again. I would have expected Giuliana to tell the others where I had been, but then I remembered that I hadn't told her.  
Humming happily to myself, I sat down with them, ordered something to eat and drink and didn't notice how questioningly the others were looking at me the whole time. "What land of thought are you travelling in?" Julia looked at me curiously. "A beautiful one!" I murmured dreamily, still oblivious to the stares around me, until Jasmin suddenly asked, "Now where have you been all morning?" I glanced around and immediately stopped eating. I looked at Giuliana questioningly. "Didn't you tell them?"  
"Told them what? I have no idea where you suddenly went!" She said in astonishment. I looked at her and only now realised that I had left her standing in the room without saying anything.  
I began to talk quietly and everyone listened intently as I told them what had just happened. "...and later I'm going to meet him. We're going out for dinner, but I'm supposed to dress a bit fancier and I don't have anything with me that could be even halfway fancy enough, so I'd need your help. Would you go shopping with me?" I finished my monologue.  
The six of them looked at me as if I had just told them I was going to the moon. But then Lene said, "Sure we will! We'll help you. So that you have an unforgettable evening! Isn't that right, guys?" Without argument, everyone else agreed, which relieved me greatly.  
We all ate up, got all our money together as we were pretty sure that shopping in London could be quite expensive and headed off to various shops and malls to shop, which I would never normally do voluntarily and now I had been the one to ask for it.


	6. As early as tomorrow?

After a few hours, several shops, countless fittings and many disagreements, we had finally found something that everyone, including me, liked and that I myself was not uncomfortable with.  
Then Christos suddenly shot to the checkout with the clothes. Lene stopped me and put her hand on my shoulder, "Because everything has gone so terribly wrong so far, the outfit is on us!" I looked at her incredulously. "You're not serious?" I asked, horrified, as I would have expected anything, but not this. "That's way too expensive. You're just crazy, I can't accept that." The others looked at me proudly, nodded and then said as if in chorus, "Yes we are! And yes you can!" I had to laugh a little as that had been a very amusing sight. "You are simply the best!" I then exclaimed a little louder, happily, and fell around Lene's neck as she was standing closest.  
We made our way to the hotel so that I could freshen up and not arrive in the evening looking like some random wannabe.  
At the hotel, I took a long shower while the others got my clothes ready. Then I used a perfume that we had bought specially because it seemed very discreet according to the salesman's advice and my friends had all been blown away, which gave me a bit of hope that it would have the same effect on Tom. Finally, I got dressed up and then presented myself in the room.  
"You'll leave Tom standing in the corner with that!" Julia said proudly. "But only almost." Laughed Ursula. I looked at the two of them and then at the others. "Do I really look good?" I asked uncertainly. "Every car driver who sees you crashes!" Jasmin was also very proud and patted me on the shoulder. "So you have to go or you'll be late for your date!" Christos grinned cheekily and then fixed the collar of my shirt again.  
"It's not a date, we're just going out for dinner!" I replied, blushing slightly. "Well, you seem to have impressed him anyway. Otherwise he wouldn't put up with you for so long." Brought in Giuliana affectionately to relieve some of the tension in the mood. "So get out of it and maybe it will be a date after all!" She added. I smiled sheepishly. Then I hugged everyone again and thanked them before heading for the underground.  
At that moment I was really glad that there are so many business people in London and smart clothes with a suit and tie are not uncommon, especially in the city centre. Arriving at Green Park, I got off and walked out of the station. It was a beautiful summer evening, so it was quite crowded. I saw people and couples picnicking everywhere, which made me daydream a bit.  
I walked towards the spot where we were supposed to meet. There were several smartly dressed people standing there and because I didn't know where to go I became slower, more uncertain and looked down a bit embarrassed because I got scared of walking towards the wrong person. But then one of these people turned around.  
Although nothing spectacular had actually happened, my pulse rate shot up to what felt like 200. And I had to smile. Because there he stood in a beautiful beige-grey suit. I felt as if I had won the lottery. I walked towards him, now a little more confident and faster, and just as I reached him, he took my hand without a word and kissed it, as he had usually only done when saying goodbye. I became a little embarrassed and looked at him, slightly reddened.  
But he just grinned. "Ready for an unforgettable evening?" He smiled. I just nodded and asked, "Where are we going?" And looked at him expectantly.  
"To my hotel room, of course!" He said seriously. I froze in astonishment. But then he started laughing. "I'm sorry, it just had to be done. But at least now I know that my acting talents don't diminish in my spare time. But you're also really easily rattled. Don't worry, we're just going out for dinner at a fancy restaurant. I have to make it up to you for beating you up at the airport. And besides, I'll be gone again tomorrow!"  
I stared at him, slightly overwhelmed, but more sad because of the last sentence. Words were going round and round in my head, "Gone again tomorrow! GONE AGAIN TOMORROW!!!"


	7. 8 Months

After I had stared at him for what probably felt like centuries. He cleared his throat at some point, embarrassed, and I only now noticed that he had also been looking at me the whole time. "Um is everything alright?" He asked me, putting on his teddy bear look again. I nodded, causing a small tear to roll down my face, which I immediately wiped away so he wouldn't notice. "Yeah sure. Everything is fine. We can go for all I care. You just have to guide me because I have no idea what you're up to and where we need to go!" I said then and tried to put on a sweet smile as well, which ended up more in a wry grimace, which luckily didn't really bother him.  
Then he suddenly took my hand and pulled me after him. I enjoyed this brief touch so much that I didn't even notice that he didn't let go of my hand and that we walked through the streets holding hands until we stopped in front of a magnificent glass façade.  
Tom buttoned his jacket and then went to the doorman, or whatever you call the man who stands in front of such expensive restaurants. I followed a little behind him and buttoned my waistcoat as well. "Holland. I have a reservation for two." He addressed the doorman, who then handed him a card with a number on it. The guy looked at me and nodded. Immediately Tom took my hand again and I followed him inside the building. Here you always play the game of hide and seek," he laughed. You only get the table number and then you have to find the table yourself. But look! Over there. I found our table. For once, no embarrassing running back and forth." I looked where he had pointed, but stopped even though Tom had already started walking and only continued slowly after taking a deep breath.  
The table was a bit out of the way, by a window that had a beautiful view over Green Park, which frankly surprised me a bit since we had walked quite a long way from Green Park. But the table had apparently been placed here on purpose, so as not to be disturbed in any way. I was about to hang my waistcoat on my chair when a waiter came and took it from me, put it on a hanger and took it neatly to the cloakroom. They did the same with Tom's jacket.  
After we were alone again, we sat down. Actually, I had thought at that moment that I would have to speak up, but Tom was once again quicker and started talking before I could even begin to think about what I could say: "You know..." He said. "Now we've seen each other so many times and we're in such a fancy restaurant, but I still have no idea what your name is." He looked at me and smiled slightly sheepishly.  
I looked at him in bewilderment, realising he was right. We had never talked about my name. I thought for a moment about the best thing to say and then began, "My name is Carsten. Honestly, I'm a little embarrassed right now that I didn't introduce myself, but I didn't even think about that." Tom looked at me and laughed. "Actually, I must be embarrassed. I never asked you about it. But then so slowly I felt uncomfortable going out with someone..." At that moment he cleared his throat sheepishly." Someone I don't even know by name. But anyway, we should talk about something else instead of what's embarrassing to whom! Don't you think?" I agreed and laughed too, but rather awkwardly.  
As time went on, however, I warmed up and also became a bit more open and relaxed in talking, which seemed to please him a lot. "I didn't think you could talk so much!" He suddenly laughed, completely out of context. "I thought you were more of a quiet type, but I guess I was wrong." I looked at him. "Well I'm actually not such a quiet guy at all, I'm just not used to meeting celebrities." I replied and I had hit the mark, because now he was blushing. "You know, I'd actually like to stay here in London for a while and get to know you better. As friends, of course. You seem really above board to me."  
"Why don't you just do it? What's stopping you from staying here?" I cautiously probed, looking at him expectantly. "Well, my job. I'm an actor, after all. And I'm shooting for a new film starting the day after tomorrow." He explained to me, whereby I realised that there was something about it that he absolutely didn't like. "Oh but that's great isn't it?" He looked at me with a rather contrite expression on his face and from that look alone I could tell that there was something coming up that I wasn't going to like.  
"Sure, but I'm shooting in Atlanta. I'll be living in Atlanta for eight months starting tomorrow..."


	8. That's it?

And the next verbal slap into my face, whether intended by him or not, it hit me like a fist on the nose. I cleared my throat and stood up. When Tom looked at me questioningly, I told him that I had to go to the toilet and disappeared to the restroom. Once there, I really had to control myself so that I didn't start crying like a little child, but I didn't manage to completely suppress all the tears. I looked at myself in the mirror and calmed down as best I could. It was strange that this hit me so hard, even though we had only known each other for a few days.  
When I had managed to come back down to earth, I wiped the tears from my face and went back to the table. It must have taken me a long time because the first thing Tom said was: "Thank God, I thought you had run away or something had happened. You're all right though, aren't you? Sorry, I'm just not that good at this!" I wish he'd tell me what that was. Maybe a date? Or really just a meal amongst new found friends?  
I just nodded, smiled and said, "Nah everything's great, just didn't find the loo straight away." He seemed to really believe me, because he smiled slightly, "Yeah, that happened to me the first time I was here!" I chuckled softly, "Well. Good to know I'm not the only one." I looked at him and could almost feel big hearts flashing in my eyes. "It's a real shame you'll be gone tomorrow. Because I don't live here, I live in Germany. That means that today will probably be the last time we see each other."  
A little taken aback, he nodded slowly and then thought about it for a moment. "Oh, I thought you lived near here. That surprises me now, because you don't have a German accent at all. So far I've actually always recognised when someone doesn't speak with a London dialect." I looked down at the table and smiled sheepishly. "Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment now!" I grinned broadly and decided to just concentrate on the evening for now and put everything else off until later.  
After we ate, Tom paid for both of us and we went on our way, but no matter how hard I tried to coax it out of him, he wouldn't tell me how expensive it was. However, it couldn't have been cheap as there was already a glass or two of wine included and wine is expensive anyway. We went back to Green Park Station and sat down on a bench there. I looked at him and he looked at me and for a brief moment I actually felt like he wanted to kiss me, but then we both silently turned away from each other and looked out into the park and a beautiful starry sky above.  
After a few minutes of silence, I turned back to him. I saw that he was quite lost in thought at the moment. Too bad you can't read minds, because at that moment I would have been really interested in what he was thinking. I glanced at my watch and then spoke without thinking: "I think we'll part ways here now. The last train leaves in 10 minutes and I have to catch it, otherwise I'm really screwed." Tom jumped up and looked at me in surprise. Then he thought for a moment. "You're right!" He finally said. "It's really late and I have to get up really early tomorrow." He took my hand. "It's really too bad, actually. You're really a great guy. I really like you Carsten." I felt him shove a note into my palm. "But maybe we'll see each other again sometime. It really is a small world sometimes!" He smiled sheepishly and stood up.  
Then he pulled me up. Again he kissed my hand and said, "It was an honour. Carsten!" He looked deep into my eyes. I looked back and almost sank into that teddy bear brown. "It was an honour!" I said tremulously. Tom let go of my hand, nodded at me, turned around sank his hands into his trouser pockets and slowly walked away. I turned the other way and then towards the station, turning around a few more times, but he didn't look back and had quickly disappeared into the darkness too.  
I sat down in the underground, put my headphones in my ear. I started crying on the spot and buried my face in my arms. The whole time I didn't look up and did nothing but mourn. When I got off again, I saw that my friends were waiting for me on the platform.  
Jasmin jumped towards me. "What happened?" She asked. "Did he dump you?" She took me lovingly in her arms. "No!" I replied. "It was totally nice, but..." I looked at the others. "But what?" Ursula asked, taking my hand. "That's it!" I sobbed. "He's leaving London tomorrow and then he's going to live in Atlanta for eight months! It's just over, everything I had hoped for. Everything! None of it came true! That's it!"


	9. To hope or to forget

As I was a mental wreck that evening, the others took me home without many words. They put me to bed, ordered hot chocolate, turned on some relaxing music and tried to create an atmosphere of well-being.  
All the time since I had to say goodbye to him, I had not opened my palm. When I realised that I was still holding the note Tom had pressed into my palm, I opened it and slowly unfolded the note. I could hardly believe what I found inside, but I couldn't really place it either.  
It was simply a heart. But for some reason I immediately felt better. After looking at the note carefully, even though there was nothing else on it, I quickly fell into a deep dreamless sleep.  
The next morning I was woken by Julia's soft voice. "Wake up Sleeping Beauty. It's already ten o'clock. We still want to have breakfast and see a bit more of London." She sat down on the edge of my bed. While I was still fast asleep, the rest of them had already managed to get ready and were now standing in front of me, all spick and span. "Seems Tom Holland doesn't care so much about you after all." She grinned, and picked up the note that must have fallen out of my hand after I had fallen asleep, and put it under my pillow.  
I looked at her and had to grin, but at the same time a tear was running down my face again. Julia brushed it away and smiled. "Hey, it'll be alright! In a few days you'll have forgotten Tom again, you didn't know each other long enough. There can't be such a strong bond!" She tried to cheer me up. I nodded, understanding exactly what she was trying to achieve and hoping, of course, that she was right. "You're right. I'll just put him out of my mind!" I smiled.  
Then I got up and got dressed as quickly as I could so we could still have as much of the day as possible. "So then off to breakfast and London!" I said eagerly, trying to bury my lethargy as best I could. No sooner said than done. We went downstairs first and had a hearty breakfast. Then we immediately set off for the City of London.  
And in fact, I didn't think about Tom all day. Until we went on the London Eye. As the gondola slowly turned upwards, I realised how romantic it must be to be with someone you really love. And just at that moment, I saw a couple who were in the gondola with us having their picture taken kissing.  
When I thought about the words romance and love, I immediately had images of Tom's brown eyes and his teddy bear look in my head. I tried to put them out of my mind, of course, but it was like a force of nature overtaking me, completely powerless. Immediately tears welled up in my eyes. I turned away from the others on the Stell so that they couldn't see my face, because I didn't want them to notice and ruin their tour.  
But of course nothing remained hidden from the spy Jasmin. She took me gently in her arms and put her head on my shoulder and looked over the city with me. "Oh boy, you really got it." She whispered as quietly as she could so the others wouldn't hear. "I can hardly imagine how you feel right now. But you know, there are really only two options for you. I know you won't like to hear this, but that's the way it always is if you can believe the media. There is a painful version and one that can possibly become even more painful. And you can hope or forget!" I looked at her and swallowed. Then I looked into the distance, took a deep breath and then said to myself: "Painful or even more painful. Hope or forget, hope or forget, hope or forget..."


	10. Out of sight, out of mind!

After I had said this sentence to myself over and over again, one thing was certain for me. I had to try to put Tom out of my mind, I had definitely decided to forget.  
Thank God, it was our last day and we were about to leave, because I couldn't have stayed in London any longer, which was a shame, because the city was just great and I think my friends were also quite disappointed that the trip had gone so badly. However, as we were packing up our things at the hotel in the evening, Lene dropped the line, "I'm impressed, you didn't think about that person today." And smiled, but instead of being proud of myself, tears immediately welled up in my eyes again. As usual, I tried to suppress it, but once again I couldn't and so one tear after the next rolled down my face.  
Julia quickly finished packing her stuff and took me in her arms. "Hey!" she tried to cheer me up. Somehow she had very often been my mental support. Even more than the rest of the group. "He wasn't the first great guy! And he definitely wasn't the last! And look, if this had really turned out to be something now, you'd probably be really far away from us really soon!" I looked at her and smiled bravely.  
At that moment I really did feel like a two-year-old toddler who'd had his rattle taken away. I just threw the rest of my clothes into the suitcase, closed it and put it in the corner. "So! One last sauna?" I asked. The others looked at me and jumped up, from which I could tell they were definitely all in. Without words, they took their things for the sauna and nodded. I grinned with satisfaction and we set off.  
They always say distraction helps. And that was definitely true. I didn't waste a thought on Tom or anything else, so that evening I felt really good again. But apparently my thoughts wanted something different from me. That night I kept dreaming about Tom, kept waking up, falling back asleep, dreaming about him again, and the whole thing all over again.  
The next morning I looked like a corpse, as what little sleep I had gotten had been absolutely non-restorative. I was as white as a sheet and had extreme bags under my eyes when Ursula woke us all up and shouted that we had to be at the airport in an hour. Christos looked at me and said, almost horrified, "Wow! You seem to have slept really badly! Even the best make-up wouldn't help!" He joked, hoping to cheer me up, but he didn't really succeed.  
I didn't answer and just got dressed, as I also felt like I hadn't slept a bit. "So shall we be off then?" I asked quietly and led the way, the others following me silently as they probably had no plan what to say. Arriving at the airport, we checked in and were also through security in no time.  
But when we got to the place where it had all started, I suddenly noticed that several people kept staring at me. My gaze slowly went down me, then over the airport facility, over my friends and finally to the big display board on the ceiling, when I saw what was displayed there, it took my breath away and I had to hold on to Lene and Giuliana in fright.  
"What's wrong?" The two asked just as synchronously as they were surprised. I pointed to the scoreboard. Jasmin slowly read what was displayed there: "Acting talent and newcomer Tom Holland gay? Tom Holland spotted in Green Park with mystery young man. Where possible his new flame?" I looked at the others. The others looked transfixed at the board. On the scoreboard ran pictures, of Tom and me in the restaurant and when he had kissed my hand goodbye one last time.  
"I hate paparazzi!!!" I shouted without warning my friends once across the whole airport building. "NO I AM NOT HIS NEW FLAME!!!! HE DITCHED ME!!!" I shouted afterwards. Jasmin tried to calm me down and we quickly went to the gate. At least now I knew why everyone was staring at me, but it didn't make me feel any better.  
"Wasn't that a bit unfair?" Christos asked. "Yes. I mean, he didn't abandon you out of malice!" Ursula added. "A jilted boy is a jilted boy!" I said firmly. "Let's make sure we get home. I now live by the motto: Out of sight, out of mind!" The others looked at me sceptically. "Well, I wonder if that will work out so well?" Giuliana said quietly to Julia, but in such a way that I didn't hear, which was probably for the best.


	11. Famous for short

Arriving at the airport in Germany, the first thing we saw was a screen also showing this shitty breaking news about Tom Holland and me. As if the world had nothing better to do than to pounce on this one celebrity and therefore on me.  
Inside I was already boiling up with rage again, but this time I just pulled my jumper and hood over my face so no one would recognise me. Now, thanks to him, I was famous for a short time, which didn't suit me at all, because I never really wanted to be famous. I was already dreading the first days at school. We picked up our luggage, I said goodbye to my friends with a short "Tschau" and ran to the station without giving them a chance to answer, because I didn't feel like going with the others because I didn't want my parents to ask me questions.  
Luckily I had managed to leave so quickly that they didn't have time to change my mind. Once on the train, I took off my hood, put on some music, leaned back, closed my eyes and the first tear ran down my face. It was as if I was completely powerless, as if some kind of bond had been formed on my part that just wouldn't break. I had never believed in such things as magical bonds between two people, but now it seemed clearer and clearer to me why there was always talk of them.  
To match my mood, it started raining outside and my playlist started playing Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. I literally sank into my seat and stared dully outside. In between, I thought about what I would tell my parents if they hadn't heard what had happened in London. My mind was so full of thoughts that I didn't notice that I had passed the station where I should have got off. Horrified, I jumped up and rushed to the door so as not to miss the next stop. Once there, I got off and sighed.  
I now had a 30-minute walk home ahead of me. At least it had stopped raining, but according to my mood, it could have continued to rain, so I didn't care about anything now. I trudged off slowly and guess what I was thinking about for the next three quarters of an hour? That's right, Tom Holland. It couldn't be that he wouldn't get out of my head. I mean he was gone, gone forever. I had tears coming out of my eyes again and because I had nothing else to do, I downloaded Instagram and since I couldn't get him out of my head anyway, I looked at tomholland2013's page.  
I saw that his last post was a picture of the dark Green Park but exactly one month to the day before we had sat there.  
Underneath that picture, however, was a description that puzzled me a little and made my hopes flare up again. 'Do you know when there are places that have something magical? Or places where you feel something special? Green Park is exactly that kind of place for me! I don't know why, but I have a feeling that something will happen here sometime in the near future that will be important to me...' I read through the lines slowly, thinking about all that had happened.  
I wondered if it was supposed to have something to do with me. It would be very nice, but I think it would be too much for me if he not only played Spider-Man, but also had really psychic powers. I shook my head. I still looked at his story. There was a picture, probably somewhere in Atlanta, although it definitely didn't look like a big American city, but maybe that was because of the set, where he had taken a selfie of himself and some people waving. In big letters it said: "Nice to meet you guys. It was very Fun! Love you all ♡"  
I closed the Instagram app and ran home as fast as I could. Once there, I just threw all my stuff in the corner and just wanted to go to my room. However, my parents stopped me. "Stay here young man!" Spoke a voice behind me. I turned around and looked at my mum's face. "Don't you even think it's necessary to greet us?" She said sternly. I nodded and went down the few steps I had climbed and hugged her. And suddenly tears rolled down my face again. "Hi Mum." I said, completely devastated. My mum looked at me "Hey sweetie? What's the matter? Wasn't it good in London?" I looked at her and more and more tears rolled down my face. "But London was nice, almost too nice even." I said. "But on the way back well." I thought quickly. "Well we had a falling out! All six of us..." I lied coldly to my mum...


	12. Worst Daily Life Ever

"Get up!" Shouted my mum. "You're going to be late for school!" Oh fuck school. Well, that could only be fun, if I was already being stared at by people who didn't know me and at school we knew each other at least by sight.  
The last 3 days since we had returned from London, I had only been hiding in my room and had come out to eat if at all. But since I was hardly hungry, I had lost 3 kilos in those 3 days. I had even gone through a fake reconciliation with my friends so that I didn't have to tell my parents the story from London, however it could be that they hadn't heard about it, but sometimes it was quite good that the two of them were living behind the moon.  
But now school was starting again. There, everyone was well informed about everyone's gossip, especially with teenage crushes, as Tom Holland unfortunately was one. It was almost worse than being in a bad Hollywood flick and they can be really bad sometimes, in my opinion. Grumpy and in a bad mood, I got dressed, went downstairs, grabbed a banana and headed out of the house towards school. As the weather was nice, I felt better, at least for the time being, as I wouldn't arrive at school soaking wet.  
On the way I met Lene, Christos and Julia. The three of them knew that I was still not really in a better mood and so they tried to cheer me up. Since we were almost 15 minutes early at the school, we sat down in a quiet corner and ate something. I slowly peeled my banana and stared at the floor. "Have you lost weight?" Christos asked cautiously. I looked at him and nodded. "Does it show so blatantly? Yes 3 kilos and this morning it almost approached 4 kilos." The others were amazed, but unfortunately not with pride but rather with worry. However, since they knew the reason, they didn't try to pretend to be worried, but simply to be there for me as best they could, which is why I love my clique so much.  
But suddenly the whole relaxed atmosphere was gone. Someone behind me tapped me and when I turned around I saw a tenth grader who immediately asked the crucial question: "Aren't you Tom Holland's new boyfriend? He just asked straight out without showing any sign of caution or modesty and without an answer from me he just took a selfie of us. I looked at the others. "Well this could be fun!" said Jasmin, who had also joined us in the meantime.  
The whole day I got questionable looks and people constantly came and wanted to have a photo with me. I didn't get around to telling a single one of them that I wasn't Tom Holland's boyfriend at all, but that we were apparently just two guys who had met through unfortunate circumstances. And with every new photo and every new look, my mood sank another little bit towards the earth's core. Since I had school until afternoon that day, I didn't miss a single glance or photo from any of the students. But when, in the eleventh lesson, my PE teacher asked and took a photo, it was over.  
After the lesson, I ran out into the playground without changing and screamed. I screamed so loudly that I had the feeling that everyone in the world could hear it. Suddenly I got a push message on my mobile."Tom Holland has posted a new story." Said a voice next to me suddenly. I looked around and saw Ursula, who had run after me with my stuff and was now standing next to me looking at my phone. Slowly I unlocked my phone and opened the story, which said in large letters: "My statement on the current situation". You could see Tom Holland on set sitting next to Zendaya. Apparently they were having breakfast or something.  
Tom took a deep breath in the video and then started to speak: "Hey guys. So I know there's been a lot of talk lately. And I also know that a lot of it is true. But a lot of it isn't. I think it's really great that I can inspire so many people. Especially that so many people are so keen to get in touch with me somehow, because it shows me that I do what I do well. But I find it impertinent to insinuate things without them being confirmed by me or obviously being shown by me deliberately. But in order for these rumours to disappear, I'm going to clear things up here. First of all: I think it's super sweet that you're hyping Carsten like this, but he looked more tortured than happy in the pictures, so why don't you ask him if he wants to take pictures at all! Secondly, he's not my boyfriend and I'm not gay either!" He winked at this sentence though, which I didn't notice and didn't care after that. "So I hope that clears your minds a bit now. I love you all and peace to you out there! Your Tom!"  
I slowly lowered my arm. I looked at Ursula. "I'm so sorry Carsten!" She said and took me in her arms. Although I had virtually known it already, I had to repeat it so that I could understand that these words had now officially come out of his mouth. "He's not gay!" I said, sobbing. "He's not gay!" ....


	13. The shoot

And there we had it again. My inner wall, everything I had built up so that I would forget Tom as quickly as possible, had been swept away like a heap of dust by a gust of wind. And so now I sat like a heap of misery against the wall of the gym and was completely dissolved.   
"What am I going to do?" I asked Ursula, who had not moved an inch from my side. "You're not doing anything!" She said calmly. "For now, we'll wait until the others are out of the gym. Christos will bring the rest of your stuff and then we'll all go to your place and have a nice evening with the six of us!" She sat down next to me and I leaned my head against her shoulder. She slowly cuddled my scalp and I relaxed a little until the others came out of the gym one by one.  
"Right then, off to the car!" Giuliana said in a voice that sounded like she was up to something to lighten the mood. We got up, and all squeezed into the car. "How lucky that your parents have a seven-seater." Laughed Julia. "Yeah you're right about that." Grinned Giuliana and drove off. Luckily we were each at one of ours so often that everyone knew the way to each of us and so it didn't take long until we were standing in front of our house in the car park.   
"So off to the house of Carsten!" I tried to say cheerfully, even though it sounded rather tortured. I opened the door and one by one they all pushed their way into the hallway. I sent them upstairs to my room and went into the kitchen to get something to drink and some snacks. As I stood in front of the fridge, I looked at the calendar, there was written in big red for the next day: 'student shooting'. I gulped and ran upstairs as fast as I could. I rushed into my room, threw the things in the middle of the room and just started talking: "Guys! We completely forgot about the student shoot! I have nothing to wear. And I can't show my face like this anyway. I'm as white as a sheet, my eyes are as black as outer space! What am I going to do now?" I asked and dropped onto my beanbag chair, perplexed.  
"So problem one is solved!" Said Lene. "You just wear the clothes we bought in London! They're absolutly trendy, you'll leave all the others in the corner with them and it would be a shame to let them go to waste. After all, they weren't cheap!" I looked at her. "But..." "Yes I know!" She interrupted me. "The clothes remind you of Tom, because you wore them at your date, but believe me you'll be the new face of the school! And besides, there's supposed to be a really cool prize, I heard today. You wouldn't want to miss out on that, would you?" I looked at her befuddled and nodded, because great prizes were always good, no matter how you felt.  
"What kind of prize?" I asked as if I was totally excited about this info. "I thought the prize was being the new face of the school?" Lene looked at me and shook her head. "I don't know. I only heard about it today too. But I guess the prize is supposed to be really awesome! Only no one knows what it is."  
I glanced around the room. "Really no one?" Everyone looked at me and shook their heads. They really didn't seem to have any idea what the prize would be about. "And problem two we have to sort out now!" Julia said determinedly. "You can put make-up on boys too, and you can do it so discreetly that you can't even tell they're wearing make-up! Your sister has that big make-up case, doesn't she?" I shrugged. "I don't know but she's in her room. You could go ask!" I suggested, as it seemed the only solution to make me look at least halfway normal. "Okay we'll be right back." Julia and Giuliana said and disappeared.  
Suddenly we heard them going down to the basement with my sister and turning every room upside down.  
I looked at the others, perplexed. "Well, let's see if they can find anything in that mess down there!" I giggled. The others had to giggle too, because they knew what it looked like in our basement and it was really bad.  
Then we turned on music, waited and ate the snacks to pass the time. After half an hour, during which the three of them had rebuilt the whole basement twice, judging by the noise, Julia and Giuliana came up again. Julia proudly presented the case. "So let's get to work!" Ursula said and opened the case, which felt bigger than my carpet....


	14. Sheer stupidity

After half an eternity, hundreds of times putting on make-up and washing it up again, suddenly everyone was sitting in front of me and looking at me. Lene took a breath: "Wow! That's..." Jasmin interrupted her: "Simply perfect! You can't tell it's made up. You look totally natural! Like fresh out of the shower!" I grinned sheepishly. "Bring Romeo a mirror so he can admire himself. I'm going to get another drink." Julia said and went into the kitchen.Christos tossed me a mirror. I caught it and looked at myself. My mouth remained open, because others really hadn't promised too much. You really couldn't tell that I was wearing make-up. It just looked good, but suddenly Julia slammed the door open. "Guys!" She said. "Carsten has made a mistake! The shoot isn't until Wednesday and not tomorrow!" I looked at her aghast, it was obvious I couldn't even read a calendar. There we had it again. My own, just perfect, pure stupidity.I slapped my forehead, "You're not serious. Oh my god sorry I stressed like that." I looked around the room. "It's all good!" Laughed Christos. "That's how we know you. Our Carsten! Always uptight and a bit stupid!" I had to laugh and blushed slightly. "And yet he always gets good grades!" Laughed Julia. If you call a 2.3 report card average good, then she was definitely right. In Germany, numbers are used to evaluate. A 1 is like an A and a 6 would be an F. If you add up the values of these numbers and divide them by the number of grades, you get the average of the report. 1.0 is the best and 6.0 would be the worst.

"That also explains the holiday tomorrow. I was wondering the whole time why this shoot should take place on a holiday, but then that got cleared up and we're off tomorrow! Will you come and do it again for me on Wednesday morning?" I asked almost pleadingly. "Yes of course!" Said Lene. "But now rest and enjoy your Tuesday off. We'll leave you alone for now!" Ursula added and before I could say anything back, they were all gone.

I went to take a shower to get the make-up off, which worked surprisingly well. I had no idea about make-up and therefore no idea how to get it off. Finally, I went to bed and fell asleep so quickly that I didn't even manage to turn off the light. The next morning I woke up, but the light was still on and I wasn't covered up, too. Sleepily, I sat up and looked at the clock. It was already 11:18 am. I had slept like a log, I hadn't woken up once and it hadn't bothered me that I wasn't covered up, but it was quite cold in my room. Normally I always noticed when my mum was the last to leave the house, but I hadn't noticed that morning either.I went into the kitchen. There was a note: 'I've been extra quiet. You need your sleep and rest for tomorrow! I love you. Kiss mummy' I read quietly. 'PS: In the fridge is your favourite breakfast. Enjoy it!'No sooner said than done. I enjoyed every bite of the pancakes, then holed up in my room for the rest of the day. "Carsten time is the most important time!" I said to myself and sank into my world of movies, music and video games. I didn't even notice that my parents came home, that they went to sleep and I didn't notice how late it had become until I just fell asleep at some point during a film.The next morning someone tapped me and when I didn't respond he suddenly shook me. "Wake up Sleeping Beauty!" Said Christos rather loudly and shook me so hard that I fell out of bed. The fact that I was always called Sleeping Beauty when someone woke me up annoyed me a bit, but what can you do? Only now did I notice that not only Christos, but all six of my friends were once again sitting in my room and had seen everything. Of course I was laughed at for my exit from the bed. It must have been quite an elegant exit. Let's just hope that something like that doesn't happen to me at the shoot today. "Hop Hop!" Clapped Jasmin. "Shower, get dressed and then make up." I looked at her. She clapped her hands twice again. I jumped up, as if remote controlled, showered quickly, put on my clothes that the others had kindly already laid out and then came out of the bathroom back to my room.I was met with six satisfied looks. "So Lene you hit the bull's eye the day before yesterday, so you get to do it again today!" Julia and Giuliana said in a duet. I had to laugh a little inside, as the two of them talked more often at the same time. After only 10 minutes, Lene was done. "Perfect!" Everyone was now speaking almost in chorus."Now let's go, or you'll be late! You take the car, we'll go by bike." Ursula said proudly. I went downstairs, took the car keys and drove to school. Once there, the order in which the 20 applicants were photographed was drawn and as luck would have it, I was drawn and photographed first, although I have to say that being photographed isn't so bad if you feel comfortable. "Okay. You are done. Please be back here at 3pm for the prize giving!" Said the headmaster, who was watching every participant, to me and patted me on the shoulder, which seemed a bit suspicious to me, as he usually didn't even really talk to the students.I headed into town to get something to eat, as it wasn't worth going home again and besides, I didn't really feel like it. At least the hustle and bustle around me and Tom seemed to be completely out of the world now, which is why I was happy to be outside again, as I didn't get strange looks from every other passerby.

At 3 p.m. sharp, I was sitting in the assembly hall with all six of my friends and, it seemed, half the school. Without much notice or anything, the headmaster came on stage and immediately began to speak: "I know you are all curious to know who the winner is. And I will tell you right away and not beat around the bush as usual. This year there are two winners. And in this envelope are the names!" He took an envelope from the drawer of the lectern, opened it and pulled out two cards: "The names of the winners, whom I hereby invite to the stage, are: Laura Seegers and Carsten Tinsley! Congratulations!"

I stood up and looked around, then slowly walked towards the stage. I could hardly believe it. It was as if I had really won. I wasn't even listening to the headmaster, who was now saying something about community and cohesion, until the following sentences fell: "And the prize of the two, backed by a recently enlisted sponsor, is an extra role in the new sequel to Marvel's Spider-Man!" My breath caught and I choked for a moment. I looked in horror at my friends in the audience. They looked at each other, perplexed and above all overwhelmed, while the headmaster continued: "And the sponsor has even made an effort to appear here himself. He came all the way from Atlanta. Put your hands together and give a warm round of applause for Tom Holland!"Applause raged in the auditorium. Inside, however, I was already sinking into the ground. How could it be that Tom Holland would sponsor something as unimportant as an internal school photo shoot at a German school?Suddenly, something red and blue somersaulted past me onto the lectern and pulled off its headgear. I could hardly believe it, as probably none of the 700 students present could. There on the lectern, in the original Spider-Man suit, stood Tom Holland in person. I leaned against the wall, not knowing exactly what to do, so I just waited to see what would happen. Tom started to speak: "Thank you all for being here! I'm really happy to be part of such an extraordinary project, I've never heard of anything like this before and so I thought I had to support it. And most of all, I'm happy for the winners today. Laura and..."Suddenly I was overcome with anger. I jumped forward and cut him off, "And Carsten thank you!" I said angrily. "The guy you whack at the airport, thereby giving him a hospital stay instead of a city trip, and then try to appease him with a fancy dinner." My voice started to waver into sadness, which only made me angrier. "And then when it seems like there's something between us, you throw me away like a candy wrapper!" Tears started streaming down my face. "And instead of telling what happened, you deny everything and act on Insta like you never knew me..."Now he looked at me in horror: "Can I say something now? Or will you maybe just let me finish? "He asked calmly and took a few steps towards me, and I backed away. "What do you want to tell me? Or rather, what else do you have to say to me?" I hissed at him. "Why do you think I'm here?" He asked, his voice still calm. "I don't know, will you tell me?" I continued to hiss. "I um... I..." He began. "Yes I'm listening!" I said dismissively. "I...." Now I was getting a bit curious after all and looked at him tensely, "So nothing!" I said more sadly than angrily, turning away and walking slowly. "Wait!" He called after me and heard his voice coming closer. I stopped and suddenly I felt his hand on my shoulder. Suddenly he turned me back to him and looked at me. "Carsten. I... I...." he stammered. "Yes you?" I hitched, as it was getting too stupid for me.But without saying another word, he pulled me towards him without warning, held the back of my head with one hand and my hip with the other, and then he just kissed me as if no one else was in the room....


	15. For a moment only

At that moment, the world stopped for me. I just stood there rooted to the spot and the only thing I did was return the kiss. I didn't care that half the school was watching and that probably every second person had their mobile phone out and was filming the moment, which I luckily forgot after a few seconds.  
Just as surprisingly as he had started, Tom suddenly stopped again and looked at me with shining eyes. "Why do you have make-up on your face?" He chuckled softly and leaned his forehead against mine. I looked at him as radiantly as he looked at me, saying nothing and just winking at him.  
Suddenly there was a noise in the background. When we turned around in surprise, we only recognised that we were still standing in front of all the students and saw that all of them, without exception, had stood up and applauded. I had to grin sheepishly, blushed completely and this time tears of joy ran down my face. Tom let go of me, went to the speaker's desk again, tapped the microphone a few times and asked for silence. I looked at him eagerly and couldn't wait to hear what he was going to say.  
"Dear students. I know there has been a lot of talk and I also know that this may come as a surprise to very few, but I still wanted to thank you. Because without your many posts, I would never have found him here again. I know it sounds crazy, but I never really had feelings for men until I met him!" He came over to me, took my hand and pulled me with him to the lectern. "I met him in London and somehow we clicked right away. And that's why now, for the first time, I'm going to say something I've never said to a man before! Carsten... I love you! And I interrupted my filming especially for you. I hope you can forgive me for being so dismissive in London and of course I hope you feel the same way I do?"  
He looked at me and a small tear ran down his cheek. I looked at him and could hardly believe what he had just said. I thought about it for a moment, but there was really only one answer I could give: "Yes, of course I forgive you!" I said overjoyed and looked at him totally in love. "Thank you all!" He then repeated again and came away from the lectern and kissed me again. And once again a huge round of applause raged in the auditorium, which to be honest made me a little uncomfortable, but what had happened had clearly been more important. "I love you too!" I whispered softly and then returned the kiss. I think at that moment I was the happiest person in the world, because my greatest wish, which I would never have dreamed of fulfilling, had come true from one moment to the next, without a sign.  
After school, however, I had to give away Tom again, because it felt like the whole school wanted a picture with him, which was understandable, but still annoyed me a little. At least I managed to dissuade my friends, though, because they would see him again later anyway. After what felt like an eternity standing at the school gate, I heard soft footsteps behind me. "This is a really big school." Said a now very familiar voice from behind me. I turned around and looked into Tom's brown teddy bear eyes and immediately had to grin. "Well then, at least you've met the people you have to thank for us being here now." I winked at him. "You're right about that, but we should do it again and do it in such a way that we don't get stared at by everyone else and not in such a forced way!"  
I looked at him questioningly, not knowing exactly what he meant now, and looked around. Then he took a step towards me and just kissed me, which I did in the same way. He pressed me against a post of the school gate and became more intense and suddenly he started kissing me with tongue too. I closed my eyes, enjoyed it to the full and of course returned it. Until suddenly someone cleared his throat next to us. I was startled and gave a slight head butt. "Oh man, was that payback for me whacking you like that at Heathrow?" Groaned Tom, who had taken my headbutt and then hit the back of his head against the goalpost. "Well there had to be sometime!" Laughed Christos, who was standing next to us.  
We both looked at him a little puzzled, as I in particular was unfamiliar with such statements from Christos. "I didn't want to disturb you either..." he continued. "But we were about to go to my place and have a movie night. Are you guys in?" I turned to Tom. "Your call!" He was still scratching the back of his head, but then nodded. "Fine by me, but please don't do a movie where I'm in it!" I looked at him cheekily. "Why not?" I asked with a grin. "Then I can adore you twice!" I had finally managed to make him blush, which made him even cuter. "I'm fine with you adoring me once!"  
He patted me on the nose and grinned. "We just have to make good use of our time! Because I'll be gone again tomorrow night!"


	16. Every second counts!

My jaw dropped. I looked at his face in confusion and hoped that somehow the sentence that it was all a joke would be dropped right now. But Tom's look remained serious, to my dismay.  
"You're serious?" I stammered, completely perplexed. "Yes. Sadly." He sighed. "But that's why we have to spend every second we have here together now and really make the most of it. Besides, the fact is that Laura and you are flying to my place in Atlanta in a fortnight and then we'll see each other again. We just have to make the best of it!" He added determinedly.  
"Hey guys! If you'd rather be alone tonight, go for it. That's your choice!" Christos suddenly added from the background. We turned to him and I considered for a moment, but then shook my head. "That's nice of you to suggest it, but at least we can spend a few hours with you!" Smiled Tom and put his arm around me. "Besides, you have to meet Tom too! When are we supposed to be where?" I asked, beaming overjoyed. "At 7pm at my place!" Said Christos and disappeared. "Hmm at 7pm? That's almost an hour away!" I mused. "What are we going to do for so long? Going straight there would be too early, but going home isn't really worth it either." I said thoughtfully.  
"How about we go to your place for a little while anyway? Then I could at least briefly meet your family!" I looked at Tom sheepishly. "What is it?" He asked. I blushed, "You know? I've never done anything like this before. I don't even know if I can do something like that!" I stammered. He pressed his index finger against my forehead in such a way that my gaze shifted from the floor to him. "Hey. Hey! Of course you can! And you've got me! You can do this! Besides, it's not that hard. Just think of me as a normal friend you introduce to your parents." Tom said encouragingly. I nodded slowly. "Okay. I can do this! Do you want to change your clothes first?"  
I looked down at him and pinched him provocatively as he was still wearing the Spider-Man suit. "I'll do that on you! I've got clothes here in the backpack, I can throw them on for the walk." He winked at me. He pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a jumper over the suit and then we made our way to my place. Slowly I pushed the door open and called carefully into the house. When there was no answer I called out again, but again there was no answer. "Hmm. Seems like everyone is gone!" I said in surprise. "Usually there is always someone at home at this hour. I guess we'll have to postpone then!"  
Tom nodded, but what else could he do? After all, he couldn't do magic. "Don't worry, you'll get to know them. And then you'll wish it never happened!" I laughed. "So now go and get changed! I can imagine that this suit is quite uncomfortable." I continued, pulling him by the hand into my room. "Uncomfortable describes it quite well. If it wasn't so special to get to wear this suit, I would never do it willingly." Answered Tom on his way upstairs. Once in my room, I put my bag in the corner, "You can change here or there in the bathroom if you want! I don't care!" I said and put my other things on a chair.  
He looked at me. "Honestly, you'd just have to help me with it! I can't get this suit off by myself!" I looked around like I was looking for someone else to do it, but we were in my room, which pretty much limited the options of people who could help him, then I walked slowly and carefully towards him and he turned around. "Just undo the Velcro, then unhook the black clip to lose the tension and then just zip it up in one sweep so it doesn't snag!" He instructed me. I followed each step carefully and extremely cautiously so as not to break anything and as soon as I had unzipped the suit just fell off Tom and he stood in front of me in just his boxers and turned back to me. He smiled contentedly. "Look. Wasn't so hard was it?" I moved my head in some mixture of nod and shake and then slowly looked down his body. "Wow!" Slipped out of my mouth.  
I quickly looked back into his eyes and once again blushed quite a bit but couldn't help but kiss him, but then my eyes fell on the clock. "Oh my god. We have to go or we'll be late and that would be embarrassing!" I said hurriedly.  
"We'll have time for us later!" I grinned. Tom got dressed and then we left the house on our way to Christos....


	17. Butterflies in your stomach

Arriving at Christos' house, I had a plan. I wanted to see how Christos' family would react if they saw Tom at their front door without notice. So I hid while he went to the front door and rang the bell.  
When the door opened I heard Christos ask, a little unsure, "Um Hi. Where did you leave Carsten?" Just standing around the corner, I had to really pull myself together not to laugh. Tom replied coolly, "He'll be here in a minute, he's just locking the car. We can leave the door open!" Christos asked Tom to come in and I watched him disappear into the house. Slowly and quietly I walked from my hiding place to the door and peeked around the corner. Tom and Christos were talking when suddenly Christos' little brother came out of the living room.  
He stopped in shock, then dropped his cereal bowl and turned bright red. I really almost couldn't control myself now, grinned rather broadly to myself and then came in. Christos looked at me in amazement. "What... what... why... you... Tom... Tom... Holland?" Stuttered Lukas. "Yes Tom Holland!" He said calmly. "And with whom do I have the pleasure?" He lifted the bowl and handed it to him. He looked sheepishly at the bowl. "I'm Lukas." "My brother!" Complemented Christos. "Nice to meet you Lukas. I'm sure this comes as a bit of a surprise to you, but maybe you'll see me more often soon. And sorry for the shock, but my friend here..." He pointed at me. "Really wanted to shock you with my presence."I could tell by the look on his face that he was beyond overwhelmed.  
Although he had already seen me, I approached them both and covered Tom's eyes from behind. "Guess who that could be?" I whispered ironically in his ear. "Hmm. Could it be my boyfriend?" He whispered back, took my hands, turned to me and gave me a kiss. Again Lukas' bowl fell to the floor. "You two are together?" He stuttered to himself. I grinned, squatted in front of him and handed him the bowl: "If you want, I'll tell you soon how we met. But yes, we are really together. And if you're lucky, Tom will be there at that time too, then we can tell the story together if you want. Is that all right?" I said in a soft voice. He nodded slowly and smiled, then pushed past me and shook Tom's hand. "Sorry I was so overwhelmed." He grinned sheepishly. "No problem. You should have seen your brother!" He laughed.  
Lukas disappeared into the kitchen and we into Christo's room. Since films of the Avengers and Spider-Man were also taboo, we watched Star Wars that evening. I wasn't the biggest Star Wars fan, to be honest I always found the films deadly boring, but it was still better than sitting at home alone. At 0 o'clock, however, we said goodbye to the others, who were all spending the night at Christos', as I definitely wanted to spend some more time alone with Tom. Since everyone at my house was already asleep, we crept quietly into my room. Once there, I closed the door. "And what do you think of my friends?" I asked and sat down on the bed.  
He sat down next to me. "They're totally cool. I like them already." He smiled. "It was just a bit weird at the beginning because I'm 5 to 6 years older than all of you! But that had died down pretty quickly, so it's all good." I looked at him and stumbled. He was right. He was almost five and a half years older than me. "But that's really not a problem for you, is it?" He shook his head, turned to me and then kissed me, which I immediately returned. "We should go to sleep!" I whispered and stood up. But Tom held me tightly. "Not yet! Not until soon." He kissed me again but I blocked. "I have to change anyway!" I winked and disappeared into the bathroom.  
When I came back out, Tom was standing in front of me in just boxers. "I always sleep like this. Is that okay?" He asked a little uncertainly, but I just nodded. "Of course!" I grinned and pulled him into bed. After we had been talking for what felt like an eternity, I realised at some point that he was getting really tired. I gave him a kiss and whispered, "We should sleep! Your eyes are shutting all the time." Tom was so tired that he didn't really respond anymore, he just smiled. Then I turned over and closed my eyes too. Suddenly I noticed how he hugged me from behind and put his head in my neck.  
I enjoyed this touch alone so much that only a short time later I fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.  
The only thing I felt were the butterflies in my stomach....


	18. Fucking long-distance relationship

Feeling good, I slept through until my alarm clock jolted me out of sleep rather rudely the next morning. I startled up and aggressively hit my alarm clock so that it would finally stop ringing. Tom, on the other hand, was slow to wake up, hugged me from behind, rested his head on my shoulder, but said nothing.  
I turned to him and smiled. "You're so cute when you look so in love." He grinned. "Well I'm in seventh heaven right now too, so I'm allowed to look like that right? I just still can't quite believe this is really happening." Tom just smiled, gave me a kiss and asked what was on for today. I looked at my watch, a little annoyed, and replied, "First I have to go to school. But I finish at 12 o'clock today and then we can do something until you have to go to the airport. I'll take you there, of course!" He smiled, nodded briefly and then gave me another kiss. I returned it, then stood up and threw him his things.  
"Now it's time for breakfast! I have time for that before I have to go into the lions' cave." I got dressed and then went downstairs, with Tom following close behind. But as I was still quite dreamy on my way, I bumped into my sister right at the kitchen door. "Watch it!" She hissed at me in her usual bitchy way and then continued on to the dining table. "Watch it yourself!" I hissed back as best I could, but I wasn't the type to get mad at the drop of a hat. I then looked at my parents who were also already sitting at the dining table.  
"Mum, Dad, Charlotte. I have someone to introduce you to!" I began. "Oh do you finally have a girlfriend now?" Said Charlotte boredly, typing away on her phone. "Not quite." I mumbled to myself in such a slurred voice that no one in the room understood what I was muttering to myself. "Excuse me?" My parents asked at the same time, as if curious. "Well, you know this person, I think. Not personally, but you should know that it's someone you don't necessarily expect to see in your kitchen on Thursday mornings now!" My parents looked at each other in confusion and then turned back to me expectantly, then I signalled Tom, who had been waiting behind the kitchen door, to come in. My parents' and sister's mouths dropped open.  
I took Tom's hand and pulled him next to me. "Mum, Dad, Charlotte! You probably know his name, but I'll introduce him properly anyway. This is Tom, Tom Holland. And me, so we've been together since yesterday!" My sister's spoon fell out of her hand. My parents didn't say anything. My sister jumped up. "This... That..." She stammered. Then she walked up to Tom and shook his hand, saying, "Hey I'm Charlotte." I grinned and then said cheekily, "The house angel, at least when it comes down to it. Or maybe I should say little devil?" I grinned a little nastily and she gave me a death glare that I didn't care for.  
"Can we take a picture?" She asked excitedly. I rolled my eyes, having almost guessed that was her first reaction. "Charlotte, you'll be seeing a lot of each other now!" She gave me an annoyed look. "Never mind! No one else will believe me." Tom laughed sheepishly. "It's all good Carsi. Sure we can take a picture Charlotte." I gulped. Carsi? He hadn't called me that before. My parents looked at me impressed. Tom and Charlotte took a photo, after which she dressed as if stung by a tarantula and disappeared towards school. I turned to my parents. "Would it be okay if I left him here until I get back from school? After all, I'll be back at 12, so you can get to know each other that long?!" My parents, who still hadn't said anything yet, nodded nonchalantly. I turned to Tom. "Is that okay with you too?" I asked him.  
"Sure. Everything's great!" He agreed. I gave him a kiss. "Great see you later then!" I went back upstairs to get my school stuff and then disappeared towards school, not even noticing that I had completely forgotten to eat breakfast. But at that moment I just hoped Tom was getting on with my parents. When I arrived at school, I was immediately bombarded with questions, like a celebrity. Half of them I didn't answer at all, the rest I answered yes or no. My friends tried to keep everyone away during the breaks, like bodyguards, which made me quite uncomfortable.  
"Oh dear. What am I going to do if this doesn't blow over?" I asked Lene during the first break, already completely exhausted. "Well. I think it will recline and if it doesn't, you'll have to deal with it!" She replied, shrugging her shoulders. I wished it didn't, but I knew she was right. After school, I stayed with my friends in the playground for a short while because I wanted to talk to them, as I had often heard that groups of friends had split up completely because of one member's relationship.  
When everyone was there I started: "I just wanted to tell you again that you are my best friends and that I am always there for you! No matter what, Tom will not drive a wedge between us. I just wanted to get that out before there's any problems because I've heard of relationships that have broken up other friendships before. I would just ask that you just, especially in the beginning, loosen up a bit until I figure out how to manage this change in my life. Especially with the long distance relationship and stuff. Is that okay?"  
To my surprise, all six of them laughed loosely. "Wow you're already worried about something like that? We'll figure it out! After all, we all know what a crush is like!" Laughed Jasmin. "Now go home for now and when you've taken Tom away, come and join us! Okay?" I nodded and had to grin as I hadn't expected such a casual response and then started a group hug. As I made my way home, however, I became a little pensive. What if during the time we don't see each other, the temptation becomes too much and someone can't resist?  
Fucking long-distance relationship!!


	19. No secrets!

When I arrived home, Tom was sitting on the terrace with my parents. At first glance, it seemed like the three of them were getting along really well, which made me very happy. This was indeed the case, but as I soon discovered, there was of course a catch. I walked over to the three of them and then sat down on the bench with Tom.  
"Hey you guys." I said cheerfully and gave Tom a kiss on the cheek. "How did your forced date I arranged go?" I asked, slightly mischievous. My parents looked at each other before my Mum looked at me and said in a rather serious tone, "Quite well. Didn't it Tom?" He, on the other hand, just nodded mutely and didn't seem to be as casual as I first thought, which made me a little puzzled at that moment. I looked at him questioningly. My parents got up and, without saying another word, went into the house. "Are you okay?" I asked, resting my chin on his shoulder.  
He turned his head to me and then looked down at me. "Yeah everything's fine, just..." He began. I sat up. "Just....?" I looked at him curiously. "Well, your parents squeezed me a lot because they are or were a bit suspicious because of me, our age difference and the whole situation. And they found out something that I haven't told you yet." He looked at me sheepishly and fell silent. "I see. And that would be what?" I asked, inquiringly. "Well you're my first boyfriend. But I'm not gay.I'm bisexual and I haven't broken up with my previous girlfriend yet!"  
I turned white as a sheet. He was taken? And hadn't told me? Now I had fallen silent, not knowing how to respond, and started stuttering, "But you, me, we..." I stammered to myself. "Yes I know, that wasn't fair. Not to her and not to you and I could really understand if you're mad right now. But she lives in Atlanta and I'll talk to her as soon as I get there, but this thing with you just came as such a surprise! I just didn't know how to deal with it. Besides, I'm not as good at relationships as you might think." I remained pale and all I could do was nod.  
Tom looked at me with concern. "Hey are you okay?" He asked cautiously and rather uncertainly. "Yeah. Everything's fine. I just need to process this right now somehow..." I then leaned against him anyway, firstly because I didn't want to start a fight and secondly because I wasn't really angry but just a bit upset. He started ruffling my hair with his hand, which I enjoyed a lot. "You could always have talked to me! I wouldn't have ripped your head off already. How about we just agree from now on that we won't keep secrets from each other, especially since it's harder with the long distance relationship anyway!"  
He looked at me surprised but very pleased. "Yes, I think that's a good idea, I just have to think first whether I still have any, because I don't hide some things on purpose, sometimes I just forget! But if I think of anything else you should know, I'll tell you right away!" He laughed sheepishly. I smiled too and then looked at him thoughtfully. "What is it?" He asked, grinning cheekily. "Oh nothing. I just had to think about how much I love you!" I smirked. "I see, and how much do you?" He asked and grinned as well. I said nothing more pulled him to me and kissed him, which he immediately returned. We became more and more intense and also started kissing again with tongue, but then my dad suddenly cleared his throat behind us.  
I turned around and blushed a little. "Did you tell him?" He asked Tom sternly. Tom was quiet as a mouse and nodded cautiously. "Yes he did!" I returned. My father's stern look immediately turned into a smile. "Well then, I didn't see anything and I didn't say anything!" He grinned and disappeared back into the house. "Did you get along well or not?" I asked curiously. Tom just grinned and replied, "Everything's fine except for that one point!" I grinned and kissed him. But then I heard a creak and suddenly my sister shouted, "Look out!" I looked up and the last thing I saw was a roof tile falling right towards me....


	20. Is this a bad omen?

Slowly I opened my eyes and saw two people bending over me in a blur. "Carsten?, Are you OK?" I heard two voices say. I moved my head up and down but could not make out who was leaning over me.  
In time my vision sharpened again and I realised that my sister and Tom were bending over me. "It's all right! I'm alright!" I said quietly, not knowing exactly what was going on at all. After lying there for a moment, I carefully got up. The two of them helped me up and sat me down on the couch in the living room. I grabbed my head and winced violently in pain. "That's going to bruise!" Smiled Tom at me. I just smiled back as I was still too knocked out to laugh or show any other reaction. "I don't think we need a doctor. Nothing else seems to have happened." Said Tom to Charlotte. "Would you get us another cold pack?" Charlotte went into the kitchen and returned a short time later with a cold pack which she placed on my head right on the spot that hurt so damn bad.  
"Call me if you need anything!" She said lovingly and then disappeared. "Thanks!" Called Tom after her. He turned to me and laughed slightly. "Well you're hitting it hard!" I blushed a little. "At least you've got your colour back. But you seem to magically attract accidents!" He laughed. I grinned sheepishly. "Maybe." I said. Tom sat down next to me on the couch and I rested my head on his legs and looked up at him. He began to scratch my forehead. "I hope this doesn't become a habit. Otherwise, you'd almost think it's a bad omen if this kind of thing always happens while I'm around." Sighed Tom thoughtfully. I didn't answer and just let Tom continue to scratch my forehead. I enjoyed the moment and then whispered softly, "I don't want you to leave!" Tom looked understanding, but unfortunately at the same time in such a way that I knew immediately what he would say to me in the next moment. "You know I have to! I have to earn money too and that's just my job." I just nodded. "Yes you're right, but I still don't want it" I grumbled a bit playfully and ran my hand against his cheek. "It won't be a bad omen. I love you far too much for that. Understand?" I added, smiled and then fell asleep from one moment to the next.

Some time later, I was woken up by nudges on my nose. I opened my eyes and saw Tom talking on the phone while he was pawing at my nose with his fingers. When he saw that I was awake again, he spoke louder so that I could hear what he was saying. "...And so it would be great if you could come here today.... okay great! I'll let him know then!" He hung up and looked at me. "Awake again sweetie?" He leaned down and gave me a kiss. Sweetie? If this kept up in frequency, I'd have 62 nicknames in a month. He hadn't called me that before and only that morning he said Carsi for the first time. I blushed a little again and grinned.  
"I have good news. Ursula and Jasmin are coming here right away because I have to leave right now and I thought it would be better if you stayed here today." 'How sweet of him.' I thought to myself and then said, "Thank you, that's so sweet of you, but I want to take you away!"  
"Forget it! Not with the bump and not in your condition either! Normally I would have wanted you to come too, but this way you stay here."  
Before I could protest or object, the doorbell rang. Tom stood up and opened the door. Ursula and Jasmin entered, holding bags of Chinese food, which directly lifted my spirits a bit when I already couldn't take Tom to the airport. I got up and went to the door. Tom was getting dressed. He took his suitcase and came to me and kissed me long and hard. A little tear ran down his cheek. "See you in a fortnight sweetie!" He smiled and took my hand. "In two weeks!" I replied, smiling slightly sadly. "I love you!" He whispered to me. "I love you too!" I replied and kissed him again. "In two weeks in Atlanta!" With those words, he let go of my hands and left the house, closing the door. I stared at Ursula and Jasmin. Had he really just said Atlanta?


	21. Not just Europe

I pointed to the door and was absolutely speechless. I stared at Jasmin and Ursula in disbelief, looked at the door and back at the two of them. Still completely stunned, I took the bags of food from the two of them so they could undress and walked into the kitchen with them. "Did he really just say Atlanta?" Jasmin asked again after thinking a little longer. "I thought Mr Leitling meant that you guys were supposed to portray supporting roles from Europe when they were filming near here?" Still a bit confused, I thought about it for a moment, since that had been my last stand too, "That was my last stand too. So either I missed something, or I forgot, or I'm just stupid. I'll ask about it tomorrow at school. But for now, let's have a nice evening."

The next day at school, I walked straight to our headmaster's office. Outside the office I met Laura, who had also heard that we were going to Atlanta instead of London and Antwerp. But before we could enter the headmaster's office, he stormed out of it excitedly. "I don't believe it? You two are so lucky!" He thrust an envelope into each of our hands.  
"What's this?" Laura asked, overwhelmed by this extreme reaction from the headmaster. "Your plane tickets to Atlanta." He replied overjoyed, though I wondered why he was so happy about it since he had absolutely nothing to gain from it. "So it's true?" I asked, agitated. "Yes it is! You're going to live there for 4 weeks, act your part in the new Spider-Man movie there, and get online schooling so you don't miss out! Now, if you'll excuse me. I have some things to sort out!" He slammed the door and left us standing in the hallway.  
Laura stared at me in disbelief. I opened the envelope and took out two plane tickets. Laura and I jumped for joy in each other's arms. Suddenly Jasmin appeared behind us. "So it's true!" We looked at each other and then at her, and both nodded in complete exuberance. "I'm happy for you guys, but do you really think you can do this. They're all professionals!" I got thoughtful. Super happy just then and straight back to a hook. "Oh come on, they won't saddle us with anything we can't handle. We're not even really supporting actors, just extras. I got my script sent to me today, it shouldn't be a problem!" Laura said confidently.  
I looked at her in surprise. She had her script already? I hadn't received anything yet. However, I said nothing and we went outside where Lene, Ursula, Christos, Julia and Giuliana were already waiting. "And is it true?" They all asked curiously at the same time. Without saying anything, I put on a big grin. Without any more words, we fell into a big group hug, which only dissolved when the break bell sounded. "Oh crap. I'll see you later then!" Said Lene annoyed.  
The rest of us all rolled our eyes, as we each had a different class for the next two hours, and everyone headed off to their classes. On the way, I passed the assembly hall, which to my amazement was open. Curious as I was, I couldn't help but look in and immediately fell into a daydream.  
In this dream, I saw the moment when Tom came down from the platform, held me and kissed me in front of half the school. I would have preferred never to wake up from that dream again, but then suddenly my music teacher stood behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and asked, "Mr Tinsley, don't you want to go to class?" I turned around, startled, and stared at him, producing only a cheeky, "Nothing better than that." Then I followed him to class.

After school I hurried home as fast as I could. I looked in the letterbox and at every other place where there could have been mail. Nothing! No script, no USB stick, no tablet, nothing. Disappointed, I dropped onto the couch, but at the same moment my mobile rang. I looked at the display. "WhatsApp message from unknown" was on the display. I opened the message and was shown a PDF file and a message. I started to read:  
'Hey,  
It's actually stupid that we still haven't exchanged our numbers, but now you have my number too. I was entrusted with sending you and Laura your script. So: In the file is the script for the complete movie. You play the part of Lewis, so at least try to learn the lines safely. You should be able to do that, because it's quite straightforward. We'll work on the acting stuff here. I'm looking forward to you finally being with me again. I love you ♡  
Tom."  
The first thing I did was put the phone away so I couldn't break it for joy and then jumped all over the house, overjoyed.  
So I spent the next two weeks learning the script, watching all the interviews with Tom about the latest developments on set so I was up to date and of course studying for school, which was by far the thing I found most annoying. But despite all these things, time was absolutely dragging and just wouldn't go on.


	22. Nightmare, dream or reality?

After days that didn't pass, sleepless nights, a lot of boredom and dozens of sucky hours at school, the time had finally come. The evening before departure for Atlanta was approaching. I had packed my suitcase, got my passport and plane tickets ready so I wouldn't forget them and, of course, organised a nice last evening with my friends. So now we were sitting comfortably at the dining table playing cards in the evening, when suddenly a strange feeling came over me.  
I shook myself briefly, which everyone noticed, but then the feeling was gone again already. "Are you all right?" Jasmin asked spying. The others looked at me questioningly as well. "I don't know, somehow I just had a really weird feeling." I admitted apprehensively. "That's just the excitement! But believe me, it's going to be great. Laura is a totally lovely, nice and open person and you know Tom now. He'll get you well involved." Christos said encouragingly in a calm voice. I smiled. "Thank you. I'm so glad I have you. I packed our picture especially so I'd always have you with me, so I'd always think of you and you'd always be by my side." I said and took Julia's and Lene's hand, as they were both sitting next to me.  
At that moment I was really happy that my friends were so behind me and I was even happier than ever to have them. We played cards deep into the night and eventually all went to sleep, but not for very long, because at 5 the alarm clock, called Dad, ripped open the door. "Up you guys and girls we have to be at the airport by 7!" Sleepily we got up and got dressed.  
When we were all ready, I said goodbye to my friends as they had to go to school later and couldn't make it in time to accompany me to the airport, which I thought was a shame but couldn't be helped. So only my family took me to the airport, and when I got there, I got a message from Laura that she was already at the gate.  
So I checked in alone, said goodbye to my parents and my sister, went through security, which was really crowded at that time of day, and then had to go through passport control until I finally arrived at the gate. Although boarding had already started, Laura was sitting in front of the gate waiting for me, which I gave her a lot of credit for, because most people would probably have just boarded already. We got in the queue and then slowly followed it into the interior of the plane. I had never flown long-haul before and was overwhelmed by how differently the cabin was equipped compared to holiday flights to Spain or Italy.  
Almost 20 minutes early, our plane took off for Atlanta and climbed to cruising altitude without any turbulence. There I sat now, staring out the window at the clouds and the endless blue of the North Atlantic. I couldn't believe this was really happening. Anyone who would be told the story I had experienced so far, since I had met Tom, would think that you had gotten too much sun, which was quite understandable. "I can't believe this is really happening!" I then said to Laura as my excitement subsided somewhat. She looked at me and shook her head. "Neither can I. And that's only thanks to your story with Tom. Do you actually want to tell it to me in full?" My gaze averted and I thought for a moment. Checking the screen to see how long the rest of the flight would be, with six hours of flying still ahead of us, I turned back to her, nodded and began to tell the story.  
After about an hour I was done. Laura looked at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. "Wow. You really hit the jackpot. If I didn't see the results, I'd think you were crazy." I looked at her. "At first glance, definitely, but I'm just really worried about how it's going to go when he becomes a real superstar. He's already being totally celebrated. I'm sure there's a downside to all this!" Laura shrugged her shoulders. "Yes, you're right. But make the best of it. You determine your own life and not some fans of your boyfriend!"  
My gaze turned away from her and back to her again. "Thank you. You are absolutely right. I will decide for myself how my life goes. But sometimes I still think to myself, especially in the morning when I get up, whether it's a bad dream, a good dream, a nightmare or reality, what's happening to me right now..."


	23. Too good to be true!

I must have fallen asleep, because suddenly someone shook me. "Wake up! We've landed!"  
Completely sleepy and disoriented, I looked around. "Landed? Where?" I yawned to myself and leaned against the wall again, closing my eyes again. But then I was jolted again. "In Atlanta! Where else?" I snapped my eyes open. "Atlanta? What? I thought I was just dreaming!" I babbled now completely overloaded with energy. I looked to the person sitting next to me. "No you weren't! We're really in Atlanta!" Laughed Laura and stood up. "Come on, pack up and get out, we have to go straight to the set! Because you were asleep, I just got off the phone with Jon Watts and he said we were being picked up."  
Slowly I put my shoes on, and then stood up too. I gathered my things that were all over our seats, stuffed them all into my backpack, and then got in line to leave the plane. Laura, who was standing in front of me, turned to me and I couldn't see her excitement, but I could feel it all the more. The queue started to move and we followed it until we were out of the aircraft and inside the airport building.  
"Wow, everything is so much bigger here than at home!" I marvelled as I looked around. Laura, meanwhile, was looking for directions to baggage claim. "That way!" She finally said and led the way, as I was practically absent mentally with my excitement about aviation. I followed her and after almost 15 minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the right baggage carousel. The suitcases were already making rounds, something I had never experienced at an airport, so we just had to take them away. After collecting our bags, we made our way out of the security area to where Laura said we were to be picked up.  
"Do you know who is picking us up?" I asked, looking at Laura. At first she shook her head and looked around, but then she smiled and pointed in a direction. "Okay I do know." She winked at me. I turned and looked in the direction she had pointed and immediately had to grin because there was Tom standing there with a pick-up sign. Overjoyed, I ran off and straight into his arms, so that the sign fell to the ground, but neither he nor I really cared. I looked at him and a little tear of joy ran down my left cheek. He immediately pressed a kiss to me, which I of course immediately returned.  
Then the same thing happened as so often. Tom and I were so absorbed in each other that I hadn't noticed that someone else was there until that person cleared his throat. We turned around. Tom looked just a little embarrassed, while Laura and I blushed completely. Robert Downey Jr. was standing next to us, watching us with amusement: "Well, lovebirds? Can we go now? You still have some scenes to do today Dutchman!" I laughed sheepishly, interesting nickname, Tom just nodded sheepishly and Laura was still just staring at him. "I'll take that as a yes now." He laughed nonchalantly and then walked ahead.  
We followed him and I whispered to Tom, "Why are you picking us up? Don't you have enough to do?" He put his arm around me. "I always have time for you! And Rdj only plays a few scenes and therefore has a lot of time off. And we just thought it would be nice if someone who knows you came to pick you up, even though I'm only dressed provisionally!" He pulled up the sleeve of his jumper, revealing his suit. "You have your suit on?! Is that even allowed?" I asked a little puzzled but excited at the same time and gave him a kiss.  
He nodded, "Actually, that's not appreciated and that's why we have to hurry to the set now! Because I have to shoot some stuff today and so do you and Laura!" Surprised, I looked to him. "Today already? I don't even know how to stand in front of the camera properly, Laura and I were only in the drama group earlier!" Tom laughed. "Don't worry you and Rdj will practice a bit first." Relieved, I took him and Laura by the hand and walked with them to the car.  
After about half an hour, we arrived at the caravans where the actors lived and which were always near the film sets. Tom disappeared directly in the direction of the set so that he could finish his workload of scenes today, Rdj showed us our trailers. Laura and I lived right next to each other, but when I went to enter the trailer, I saw that it wasn't just mine. I stopped at the door and looked at the nameplate which said 'Tom Holland and Carsten Tinsley'. Although no one was near me, I became a little embarrassed and my cheeks reddened.  
After settling in for a bit, we met in what everyone called Downeytown, a quadrangle of caravans where Rdj lived. There he showed us the basics we needed to know for today's scenes, where Laura and I would be seen in our characters for the first time.  
Afterwards he took us to the set. In the hall was a replica of part of a house that was on fire in the scene and about to collapse. Laura and I, siblings Lewis and Zuli in the movie, were trapped in the living room by flames and we would be saved by none other than Spider-Man...


	24. Switching to separation

After the first scene was finally shot after several attempts, I tried to get to Tom to see what he was doing and if I could be of any help, but he was too busy to even notice.  
Since I was aware of how exhausting such a job must be when you play by far the most important role in a blockbuster, I spent the first few days together with Laura at Rdj's, so as not to get on Tom's nerves too much and to distract him. Rdj gave us many tricks and tips on how we could work better and more efficiently and above all he gave us a bunch of acting advice that he had gathered through his many years of experience so that we were more confident and credible in front of the camera.  
But after a few days, even Rdj didn't have much more for us to teach us, as it was only up to us to implement his advice. We tried to compensate for this by learning lines, but since our roles weren't leading parts, they were also stuck in our heads after quite a short time. Since neither Laura nor I wanted to take care of all the school stuff that was sent to us every day, we looked for other hobbies to pass the time.  
While Laura found it totally exciting to explore the set, I took care of Tessa, Tom's dog, who went everywhere with us, even to film premieres. One afternoon when I was playing alone with Tess, as everyone called her, between the caravans with her favourite toy, and Tess suddenly disappeared around a corner, something happened that I would never have dreamed of. As I turned the corner to see where Tess had gone, I saw Tom and Zendaya in the middle of a passionate kiss.  
Slowly I backed up so they wouldn't notice me and ran back into the trailer. On the way there, tears welled up in my eyes, I ran past Rdj, who looked quite puzzled, and disappeared into the trailer. I put all my things in the suitcase, took it and knocked on Laura's door, who opened it in her bathrobe and looked at me puzzled. With tears in my eyes I asked, "Can I stay with you? I'll tell you everything later!" She took the suitcase from me and nodded without saying a word and let me in. After some time of silence, she spoke up: "Of course you can stay here with me. But whatever it is. Please sort it out!" She said insistently.  
Bluntly, I nodded, then went back to Tom's trailer and texted him, 'We need to talk! I'll be waiting in the trailer!' I wrote and waited. Not two minutes later the door opened and Tom came in completely out of breath. "Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" He asked, looking at me like a lamb. Which almost made me forget again what a rage I had for him. "Don't you have to tell me?!" I replied monotonously, staring at him emotionlessly. Overwhelmed, he asked if he had missed anything. I just shook my head and tears immediately welled up in my eyes again.  
"Even when confronted, you won't admit it!" I began to sob. As if he was completely on the line, Tom still just looked at me questioningly. "Would you please enlighten me!!! I have no idea what you're talking about!" He started to grumble. "Oh really you don't?" I stood up. "Think hard mastermind! It hasn't been 45 minutes! And it's not like your birdbrain is that bad!"  
Still completely perplexed, Tom looked at me. "I saw you!" I then blurted out in a rage, tears streaming from my eyes down my face. "I saw you two! And we've only been together four weeks? I thought you had decency and weren't one of those!" I shouted at him and then wanted to leave, but Tom held me tight. "Is that all? That's why you're making such a fuss?" Horrified, I stared at him. "Making a fuss? You cheated on me!" I shouted at him again, so that several colleagues who were just in the courtyard overheard. Among them were Zendaya, Rdj and Laura.  
I then calmed down a bit and looked deep into his eyes: "Sorry! But I can't and don't want to be with someone like that! I thought you were different, but I guess I was wrong! I guess your fame has gone to your head!"  
I tore myself away from him, left him standing speechless in the doorway of his trailer, slammed the door and sat down on the floor in front of Laura's trailer, crying. As I sat there Tess came to me and lay down on my lap. I started stroking her, closed my eyes and leaned against the wall: "Oh Tess why is life such a rollercoaster? Tess looked at me with her sweet puppy dog eyes and gave me a peck, which gave me some courage. I tried to calm down and while I was doing so, I heard a soft sobbing coming from Tom's trailer....


End file.
